Anybody who has read any of my other reviews for for example individual episodes of the 'Law and Order' shows, am slowly working my way through writing reviews for all the episodes of 'Law and Order', 'Special Victims Unit' (finished my 'Criminal Intent' reviews last year) and some time next year some of the lesser known/received shows, will know already how much admiration there is from me for anything that tackles difficult and controversial themes and issues. The topic here did sound interesting and quite brave.
"Catfishing Teacher" however is one of those episodes that could have handled its difficult topic a lot better than it did, it succeeds at being uncompromising which is good and it succeeds at being creepy which is equally good. If the pace had been more consistent and if nothing was underdeveloped, it would have been a much better episode than it turned out. Not a terrible episode by any stretch, but this is an example of a topic that can go either way in execution, and similar topics can be executed in too sleazy a manner, and it doesn't quite come off in the way it's executed.
There are plenty of good things here. It is well made, intimately photographed and slick with no signs of under-budget or anything. The music didn't sound melodramatic or too constant and the direction is accomodating while still having pulse. Much of the script is tight and intelligent, though there is not much that illuminates about the subject. Did think that the episode started off very well, disturbing but not being too sleazy.
Story generally is dark and disturbing, fitting for a subject that is exactly those things, and pulls no punches. Love Rollins and Carisi together, their scene was very cute. The acting is very good all round.
However, "Catfishing Teacher" could have been a lot better. It does slow down and lose tension towards the end. Much more focus could have been put on the female teacher, she and her role in the story, which was every bit as crucial as what transpired, were practically dropped.
While the ending does shock and sadden, it is also too drawn out and could have been explained in a shorter time frame than it was. Am really not caring for Dodds, bland, ill fitting and too much rookie like.
All in all, decent if unexceptional. 6/10.